Series Preview: Mets to Face Old Friends with Kansas City

The 2026 season for the New York Mets marches on!

New York returns to Citi Field to host the Kansas City Royals, one of their last series before the All-Star break. Both teams are on the skids, and with the Mets currently 11 games out of a playoff spot, playoff aspirations are probably off the table. They’ll face a couple of old friends in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, as well as Starling Marte.

Without further ado, it is time to get rolling with another early-week series preview for the Mets!

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Tuesday: TBD vs. Seth Lugo (3-6, 4.20 ERA)

As of now, the Mets do not have a starter announced for Tuesday’s game against the Royals. It could be a bullpen game, or someone like Zach Thornton could be recalled. He hasn’t pitched since Wednesday.
A one-time New York Met, Lugo has hit the skids in 2026 and will be looking to rebound against his former team. Holding a 4.20 ERA on the season, the right-hander’s underlying stats have not been pretty. His expected ERA is 5.34, his hard-hit rate allowed is 43.1%, and his strikeout rate is 18.7%. While he is not walking many batters, he is not generating whiffs and is not keeping the ball on the ground, a departure from one of his best skills. Batters are also teeing off on his fastball offers; his four-seam, sinker, and cutter all have batting averages allowed of .270 or higher. New York, if the full lineup can take quality at-bats, should be able to have a solid game here.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Wednesday: Christian Scott (2-1, 3.49 ERA) vs. TBD

Scott, as always, had some positives and negatives in his last start for the Mets. Facing the Braves, Scott allowed three earned runs, two home runs, and walked four batters. However, he also only allowed two total hits and struck out seven batters in his four innings of work. Relying mainly on his fastball and sweeper, the right-handed pitcher has posted a very impressive 28.0% strikeout rate. Scott, though, has struggled with the walks (11.7%), is not keeping the ball on the ground (29.8%), and has allowed an average barrel rate (8.1%). Against a moderately tough Kansas City lineup, this game will be an interesting test for
As of now, the Royals do not have a starter for Wednesday’s game against the Mets.

Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Thursday: Sean Manaea (1-4, 5.16 ERA) vs. Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.45 ERA)

Another game, another average outing for Sean Manaea. Facing the Atlanta Braves, the lefty allowed six earned runs, six hits, and two home runs over five innings. Manaea only walked one batter and struck out four batters. Much better with his command recently, Manaea has also been very consistent in generating strikeouts over the past month. He is giving up runs, but the lefty is also consistently making it to the fifth inning or later. Manaea is not the bona fide ace he was once in New York, but he is slotting in very well as an average back-of-the-rotation arm. He should be able to continue this trend against the Royals.
Michael Wacha has been solid for the Royals in 2026 and offers a more difficult challenge for the Mets to close out this series. Before giving up four runs to the Phillies on July 4, Wacha had not allowed more than three runs in his last three starts. On the year as a whole, the right-hander is doing a great job locating pitches (6.7% walk rate) and avoiding hard contact (36.4% hard hit rate). He is not striking out batters at the highest clip, but he still has 91 in 114.2 innings pitched this season. Working with a legitimate six-pitch mix, it will be fascinating to see how the Mets handle this game, as I think Wacha could be in for a very solid outing.

The Main Storyline

Ahead of this series, my main storyline once again revolves around who will be on the post-trade deadline Mets.

Some of the potential trade pieces, specifically in the bullpen, have fared well. If they so desire, the Mets could likely land a haul in return for Luke Weaver. On the starting side of things, though, a player like Freddy Peralta has not had the “breakthrough” start that inflates his value once again.

On the hitting side of things, it remains to be seen who will help the Mets through a trade and who will help them by being on the team. New York, as I mentioned last week, could make some decisions on Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio. Players like Tyrone Taylor and Jared Young, who fill a specific role, are intriguing names to monitor.

In a lost season, the march to the trade deadline is always one of the most important markers on the baseball calendar. And for the Mets, that scenario is playing out in the 2026 season. As a result, this is my main storyline to watch this week.

Player to Watch

In the latest early-week series for the Mets, I am concentrating on Juan Soto.

New York’s best hitter and a 2026 All-Star Game starter, Soto is hitting .301 this year with 19 home runs. He has a very impressive .414 on-base percentage and a .570 slugging percentage, giving him a .984 OPS.

Against the Royals, I expect Soto to keep carrying the offense and being one of the main rays of light in an overall bad season for the Mets. If you are going to tune in this week, do it to see one of the better hitters in the sport suit up for the Mets.